Saturday, 24 November 2012

I am really excited to announce that next Saturday (1st December) I will be returning to the Mill Road Winter Fair with a joint stall with Jo aka Afternoon Tease. I will be baking some of my favourite sweet treats from the last year on the blog as well as a few new surprises. There will also be a taster of savoury things from past supper clubs including my absolute favourite, Bosnian cheese pita.

Be sure to stop by and say hello if you're in the area. I'll be at the Food Fair in the Gywdir St car park.

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

I have a bit of a confession to make. I only tried my first scotch egg about a year ago. Up until then I always thought they we're pretty horrid and avoided them like the plague. In my defence, the only scotch eggs I ever got exposed to were ones bought in supermarkets that looked pale and uninviting.

My first scotch egg was with black pudding and after my first bite I was determined to have a go at making my own. When Jo and I were menu planning for the Childhood Memories Supper Club I knew we had to sneak this in. Scotch eggs are good fun to make and I think something everyone should have a go at. Because we were serving these cut into wedges we cooked the eggs for a little longer but if you would prefer a runnier yolk I'd suggest boiling them for no more than 6 minutes.

You will need-

6 medium eggs - plus an extra 1 or 2 for the batter

250g black pudding

125g sausage meat

A few sprigs thyme

1 tsp chopped sage, preferably fresh

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt & Pepper

Plain flour

Panko breadcrumbs

Vegetable Oil

Begin by bringing a large pan of water to the boil and then gently lower the eggs in and simmer for 7 minutes. Once the 7 minutes are up remove to a bowl of ice cold water to stop them cooking any further. Once cool very gently peel the egg shells off and put the eggs to one side.

Put the pudding and sausage meat with the thyme, sage, paprika, cayenne, salt & pepper together in a bowl and give it a really good mix. You could, at this stage fry a little piece off to check the seasoning and add more herbs/spice if you fancy. Split the mixture off into 6 balls.

Prepare 2 squares of cling film and place one of the balls of pudding mixture in the centre. Now place the other piece on top before flattening out till its no more than 1/2cm thick. Remove the top layer of cling fim and place the egg in the centre. Bring the cling film up and around the egg. Tear off any excess meat and then using the cling film smooth over any edges or creases. Set to one side and repeat with the rest of the eggs.

Place the sunflower oil into a large, heavy based pan and put on a medium high heat.

Set out 3 plates with the flour, beaten egg and panko breadcrumbs. Its important to keep one hand dry if you don't want to get covered in breadcrumbs and flour (like the 3rd photo down!) Firstly roll the egg in flour then dip in the egg mixture. Next cover with breadcrumbs before returning back into the egg and then finally back into the breadcrumbs.

If you have any left over meat simply roll into small balls and repeat the same instructions for the batter & frying.

To check if the oil is hot enough, drop a couple of breadcrumbs into it. They should sizzle and start to turn golden pretty quickly. Its important to only fry one egg at a time so as not to risk the oil overflowing. Gently lower the egg in and turn after a minute or when golden underneath. Continue frying till its a lovely golden colour all over then remove onto some kitchen paper to drain.

Leave to cool slightly before slicing into quarters. These should keep in an airtight box for 3 or 4 days in the fridge.

Sunday, 11 November 2012

On Friday night we hosted our 4th Platelickers Supper Club in the lovely surroundings of St Pauls Church. This time around we rolled up our sleeves and had a go at black pudding scotch eggs which seemed to go down very well! The rest of the menu consisted of-

The lamb was from the lovely Northrops Butchers on Mill Road and was slow cooked for 4 hours in red wine with lots of delicious vegetables before being turned into a Shepherd's pie. Jo also got to put her new ricer to good use by making a potato, parsnip & celeriac mash. The shepherd's pie was served along with braised red cabbage which was cooking with balsamic vinegar & apple. On a separate note, please join in on our hashtag #deargodimmiddleaged if you are into ricers, aprons & heated blankets just as much as we are!

We also served up a pear and apple crumble. The crumble top was mixed with flaked almonds which added a lovely crunch. We overheard one platelicker say that it was the best they'd ever eaten which made us very happy indeed. The custard was made the previous day and we nicknamed it crack custard because of just how addictive it was. Thankfully even after the trials there was plenty left for the evening!

We finished the evening with a little selection of mini meringues topped with flaked coconut & chocolate. It was fantastic to be back in the church again especially after their fantastic refurb. It felt really special to be able to dine in there, a huge thanks to John Quysner for making it possible.

We have just started out preparations for the next supper club happening on the 24th November. This one is fully booked but we do have a reserve list set up so if you would like to be added to it please email us at platelickersanonymous@gmail.com. We will be taking a little supper club break in December but will be back in January so please join our mailing list if you would like to be the first to know about any new events. Jo & I are also joining forces at this years Mill Road Winter Fair so please be sure to stop by for lots of sweet & savoury treats from our blogs as well as past supper clubs.

Monday, 5 November 2012

I should begin this post by saying, veggies please look away! Also, apologies for the image heavy post.

Last thursday evening I headed to Stickybeaks for a very special Pig Butchery demonstration with Barker Brothers butchers. Stuart Baker, the 6th generation Barker came along and brought half a pig to show us just how versatile pork is.

He showed us all the different cuts of pork and explained which were best for roasting, frying, slow cooking, barbecuing and why. He also showed us how to prepare the cuts ready for cooking like how to roll the meat ready for roasting and also how to tie the special knots in the string. During the demonstration we were passed around lots of delicious food. Starting off with pork scratchings some which had been cooked with fennels seeds and the others with cumin. If I wasn't surrounded by lots of other people I probably would have eaten a lot more of these!